| dc.description.abstract | In a challenging economic environment coupled with globalisation and increasing
competitive market forces, organisations are looking for critical strategies to get ahead. The
challenge for managers is offering something different that is not only geared for sustaining
operations but also for growing businesses and challenging for market domination.
Resources, technology, off-the-shelf programmes and models have all been explored but
successful companies have realised that the greatest benefit to business success is having
engaged employees. The purpose of the study was to analyse the benefits of employee
engagement on company performance in the commercial sector in Harare.
This study adopted the qualitative approach and twelve participants were purposively
selected from various institutions and different capacities in the commercial sector from HR
consultancy, human resources practitioners, business owners, worker representatives,
supervisors to shop floor workers. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect
rich data from participants and the interview sessions were recorded and transcribed. Data
collected was analysed through content and thematic analysis to address the objectives of
the study.
The research findings indicated that employee engagement mainly contributes to company
success through customer satisfaction, profitability, reduced labour turnover, productivity
and cost reduction. The study indicated that the key drivers of employee engagement in the
commercial sector were effective communication, relationship with immediate superior,
employee development, fair remuneration and leadership involvement. The main barriers to
engagement were identified as poor communication, unsupportive organisational structure
and poor leadership, lack of policy on engagement, lack of adequate financial resources and
poor industrial relations climate. These barriers can be countered by managing resistance,
developing an engagement policy, training, effective recruitment, leadership involvement
and gathering engagement data in the organisation.
It was recommended that companies in the commercial sector should develop an
Engagement Policies coordinated by engagement committees and guided by a proposed
engagement model adapted from the Aon Hewitt model. The recruitment policy,
performance management system, organisational matrices must incorporate engagement
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issues. Compensation should be based on salary surveys and recognised job grading
systems. | en_US |
